


What’s In A Name

by NorthGalactic



Series: Porcelain Blue [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-27 14:15:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20409115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorthGalactic/pseuds/NorthGalactic
Summary: It’s not easy to give yourself a new identity, but giving yourself a new name is probably a pretty good first step. At least, that’s what Sans figures.





	What’s In A Name

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, what’s this? Two fics in one day? Hm, I’m on something of a roll right now... it’s been very productive for me, churning out content!

“So then, if the Multiverse is theoretically infinite and all of that, shouldn’t there be a lot more than... you know.” 

Sans gestured between himself and Nightmare, who was listening with a look of distant amusement on his face.

“I’m not actually a Sans,” Nightmare corrected patiently, and that was also possibly the weirdest sentence Sans could recall ever hearing. “And in any case, being a Sans is... usually quite the pivotal role. The sort of role that ends up saving or breaking timelines.” 

Nightmare laughed as if this were a private joke, and Sans chuckled along uncertainly. He wanted to ask why, wanted to know all the why’s and how’s of the physics of it all, to really understand and comprehend just how this was all possible. But Sans certainly didn’t want to annoy Nightmare, who as it turned out could travel the Multiverse, because that was just A Thing, apparently. A relatively common thing, as it turned out. 

Sans wondered if the machine he pretended not to know about in the basement he pretended didn’t exist since he wasn’t supposed to know about that had Multiverse traversing capabilities. It was a befuddling thought, amusing and infuriating all over again. 

Nightmare sent Sans a knowing glance, and Sans couldn’t help how he flushed and looked away sheepishly. 

“A-anyways,” he deflected preemptively, “How does anyone know who they’re talking about if everyone is named Sans? It can’t be easy to keep track of.” 

Nightmare snorted, only just loud enough for Sans to hear. It was a surprisingly inelegant sound, which was probably why it was kind of quiet. 

“No, I should say not. In actuality, it’s not uncommon for a Sans to pick up a new name or nickname once they take up interacting with the larger Multiverse. Most from the same sort of AU as you, Underswap, end up calling themselves Blue or Blueberry.” 

Sans grimaced. 

“Er... cool. I mean, I guess I can get the Blue thing! Nice and simple, right? Blue must be a common enough color for, uh... a typical Sans to wear, I guess. But Blueberry is just... weirdly specific.” 

”Not a fan?” Nightmare questioned, looking amused by his expression. 

Sans shrugged, feeling sheepish. 

“I mean... well, no. That sounds like something a child would call themselves!” 

“Most Underswap Sanses are not unlike children,” Nightmare commented lightly. “There is a common theme of infantilism towards the Sanses of Underswap.”

“What the heck,” Sans whispered, appalled. 

“In fact,” Nightmare continued, beginning to look gleeful. “Half of the time this infantilism is done on purpose by their respective Papyrus-“

“Oh my god.” 

“-and half the time of THAT it’s done with the intent of grooming the native Sans into-“

“OKAY,” Sans interrupted somewhat shrilly, embarrassed. “I REALLY don’t want to know how the rest of that sentence goes!”

“Are you sure?” Sans wasn’t fooled at all by the apparently mournful expression Nightmare was sporting. “It really is quite fascinating, you know...”

“I definitely don’t want to know,” Sans promised fervently. Gleeful chuckles came from the dark skeleton. 

“If you want to separate yourself from any such insinuations, you’ll have to choose quite the clever, rememberable little name for yourself.” 

Sans wilted, just a little. 

“Are you sure I can’t just keep using Sans?”

The silence spoke volumes. 

“... I’ll start thinking.”

So, as it turned out, choosing an absolutely amazing, life changing name was beyond difficult. Sans was beginning to see why so many fellow Underswap Sanses ended up just calling themselves Blue, but Sans absolutely drew the line at calling himself Blueberry. 

He had STANDARDS. 

... Standards that were falling, admittedly, but this naming business really was very hard. 

But, Sans consoled himself, if he ended up finding a successful name for himself, that was just one step closer to making a lasting impression on the Multiverse! He may no longer THE Sans, but he was still A Sans! 

(Sans tried very hard not to think about how his name was beginning to sound more like a descriptive word than his name, but that was probably just... a byproduct of his name apparently being so commonly used in all of these alternate universes. Sans was beginning to get something of an existential complex, but he was an expert at avoiding things that got under his skin, so to speak!) 

... Sans definitely needed something new and different to call himself, and soon, before his own name ceased to sound like a real word. Perhaps he could call himself after something he liked..? No, that was entirely stupid; he may as well go ahead and call himself Scarf in a moment of particularly dim witticism. 

So. That left other things that Sans found he enjoyed, possibly, or he could look in a dictionary. It would be more time consuming, surely, but it might just be Sans’ only hope at this point. Frustrated, Sans stared up at the dark stone ceiling, tapping his foot impatiently. 

Think, think... what COULD Sans call himself? It had to be unique, short and to the point. No one would bother remembering some pointlessly flowery, complicated term. It shouldn’t be so hard... Just one name — a word, even, just a single word — to describe himself. The dictionary was full of words, Sans consoled himself; there was bound to be just the right one in there, even if the task of slowly combing through every individual word or phrase was actually kind of daunting. 

Maybe Sans was looking at this all wrong. 

He took a deep breath to calm himself, exhaling slowly. 

Okay. So, the dictionary thing would be a very last resort. That was fine. He wouldn’t LIKE it, but it would serve if Sans really had to. Sitting on the particularly bland and uniform bed in the equally uniform appearing room, Sans began methodically tapping his fingers against his arm. 

Perhaps he could call himself after a particular type of scarf? Or maybe name himself after his temperament... although, on second thought, calling himself Hot-Headed Idiot probably wasn’t the best of plans. 

What about a color, then? It would keep with the apparent theme of being from Underswap, as Nightmare called it. His shirt was gray, so perhaps Sans could be uninspired just this once and name himself Gray?... Sans followed that line of thinking, throwing out ideas at himself. 

If not Gray, then perhaps Teal? Although the shade of blue at the ends of his scarf was more of a sky blue, so Sky would be more factual- 

Wait, wait. Sans silently rewound his thoughts. A shade of blue would work. In fact, it would actually work perfectly, if Sans could find just the right one. But how to figure out all the different shades... a dictionary would be little help here, he needed picture examples- 

Oh. Duh. Sans was an idiot, clearly; he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, infinitely relieved he hadn’t been speaking aloud so no one could hear him sound so astoundingly stupid. With his course set, Sans immediately hopped on the Internet, wondering absently how the Internet even worked in Nightmare’s castle or if they were somehow piggybacking off of some nearby AU’s Internet, like hacking someone’s WiFi. 

(Sans really, REALLY wanted to know how it worked. He wanted to find out how it ticked, how causation and effect worked in this strange new reality his senses had been opened up to. Sans wanted to know EVERYTHING.) 

As Sans scrolled by several shades of blue, he couldn’t help but wonder; how did the others in Nightmare’s group decide to name themself..? Well, with Horror he’d probably just named himself after his AU, so there wasn’t any big mystery there. Killer, that... that... well, Sans couldn’t think of anything quite fitting enough to call Killer besides obnoxious, but in any case the older monster should have just called himself Brat and been done with it. 

Dust was... named the monster equivalent of Corpse, and seemed to think it was deeply hilarious. Sans would be concerned for him, if Dust wasn’t also annoying. Truly, the chance to sock Dust a good one right in his eye socket couldn’t come quickly enough. 

(Why couldn’t Dust have just named himself Ash, or something else equally toned down while carrying the same connotations?! Honestly, it was WEIRD.) 

Admittedly, Sans was most curious about where Nightmare‘s name came from. Nightmare, in the short time Sans had known him, seemed fond of keeping his cards close to his chest. Not that Sans expected to immediately be told EVERYTHING or anything like that, but he also couldn’t help but wonder, since Nightmare had said he wasn’t a Sans, whether Nightmare had either named himself that or been named by someone else-

Oh. Sans’ eye caught on a specific word by a specific shade in his phone screen. He held up a gloved hand, squinting as he analyzed just how close the two shades were. It was a bit difficult to tell in the lighting, of course, but... Sans thought the color on his phone and the color his gloves — and, subsequently, his boots and scarf — was the exact same, or near enough to it. 

“Delft,” He sounded out cautiously. “Delft...” 

Well. Sans thought that Delft sounded like as good a name as anything. Short, to the point, and succinct. Time to go let Nightmare know what his new name was, he supposed. 

“Like the porcelain?” Nightmare immediately questioned. 

Delft wanted to ask how Nightmare knew specifically that delft was the blue used for that kind of thing. He really, really did. 

“Yyyyes?” 

Nightmare did something incredibly dangerous for Delft’s soul; he smirked. 

“... Heh. I’m sure no one else will understand the subtext. Alright; welcome to the team, Delft.” 

Somehow, Delft was sure that choosing this name was going to come back and haunt him.


End file.
